ANTARA PROJECT

Inspiring change through music and the arts.

The Antara Project, founded by musician and composer Annemarie Borg, is an international network of artists and musicians who collaborate through the internet and skype, and via events and meetings, to help create a better world through music and the arts. Through educational and musical exploration, Antara aims to raise awareness of the importance of imagination and creativity in addressing climate change and environmental problems.

A key event in 2013 and one that this grant has supported is the Antara Festival which was held in June at the Lumen Centre in Bloomsbury London. Antara hosted a day of music, visual art and words themed around the awareness of how important it is to reconnect with our Natural world and respect our planet, stressing the links between creativity, wellbeing and the ability to face necessary change.

The Programme included live music performances from contemporary to electronic, ambient via jazz, Film screenings dealing with ecological issues and remakable youth initiatives abroad. Talks and discussions about climate change and reconnecting with Nature with specialists researchers and ecologists including Tony Juniper, together with environmental poets and writers. There was also an art exhibition during the following two weeks, open to the public.

As the Festival 2013 closes, the project enters its Phase Three: a series of lectures and events being organised first in the UK, then in 2014 in Europe and reaching out as months go by to other parts of the world. The lectures will be based on scientific research that discusses issues such as, ‘how does Creativity affect our behaviour, our confidence and our well being?’ Combined with these lectures will be performances and art installations by musicians as part of the Antara Project network.

We hope very much to come back to London at the end of 2014 with an Antara Harvest Festival highlighting the progress of the project, and the impact of the tour.

Antara Project – Update 2014

Now and in the future…

Communing with Cetaceans“Creativity is our natural form of expression, a mirror of who we are… So it is also in Nature by the fundamental principle of creation itself… hence creativity leads to this reconnection. It is powered by imagination, intuition and a genuine feeling of “innocence”… It fuels our self esteem, and our sense of well being… It opens our mind and heart to unexplored possibilities. It enables us to make choices, take decisions responsibly. It clarifies our mind and enhances our self development. As we develop this consciousness we can start integrating the world around us and get a better understanding of universal harmony. It opens the doors to possibilities we are only now beginning to see and attempt to understand. It opens a world of change.” – Annemarie Borg, April 2014

The Antara Project focuses on the idea that the energy given to us by combining Creativity/Communication/Imagination and Education produces a powerful tool for change in this world that is on the brink of some extraordinary new concepts of reality and consciousness which will open a new phase for human development and a changing society – where our deep understanding of and connection with the natural world will become indispensable.

It is the challenge of today to be open to new ideas that scientists are already researching and bring to the fore.

There was a time when our planet was thought of as flat…it was not.

What else do we believe and maybe are getting wrong?

Let’s be challenged, let’s be curious!

The Antara Project is divided in various phases:

1/ Consolidation of a concept and creation of a community (2010 to 2012) which expressed it self in the production and release of the compilation of various artists:Breaking Through (Jan. 2013)

2/ Organising a Festival to promote and explain the Project and its aims to a wider audience (June 2013) in London at The Lumen in Bloomsbury sponsored by Artists Project Earth.

3/ Phase 3: 2014/2015 – the Project is now travelling abroad (Belgium/France/US/Finland/Canada) for several reasons: to broaden its reach and impact in the UK and internationally; to gather data by visiting schools/universities and organisations working in the field of education/environment and various conferences; collecting information from students/teachers/educators and researchers in communication; to talk and illustrate the relationship between creativity (as in music for instance) communication and Nature… How forms of natural communication and expressions can come together and create a deep sense of Harmony across species and in a very innovative way, enabling a better understanding of our place in the world and a natural reconnection with Nature. (This will be illustrated by Annemarie Borg’s talk and performance in Helsinki, June 2014 and it is the reason why Antara Project is incorporating “In nomine Cetus” – Ambient Music meets Cetacean communication and vibration.)

4/ Phase 4 : 2015/2016/2017… How do we introduce the concept defined by the project to create a global format of education? Setting up a working committee of specialists to create a template/proposal for a revised education format + consultation at decision making levels… Lobbying official governing bodies and establishing links with national and international organisations dealing with education…